For me, it’s more for convenience as well as cost savings as it is a pain to arrange a courier to hand carry my Rapamycin from India to Hong Kong. If I have it shipped, customs will take it. Hand-carrying it is legal.
When I said “cautionary“ what I meant to convey is that you are already taking an experimental drug. You really should think hard before compounding your risk by adding something like grapefruit juice that no medical doctor, even one who is approving of Rapamycin, would recommend. I would never do it, nor would I recommend it even if you are only taking rapamycin.
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Ran across this a couple of months ago: How to EASILY peel and segment grapefruit - YouTube
I never got as good with a knife as the woman in the video, but the procedure became pretty easy and efficient after a few tries. The segments went in a freezer bag and I’ve been thawing them as needed. They taste like fresh grapefruit.
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Just got my first mouth sores after taking 2mg of Rapamune with one whole GF (400g fruit ).
I went to 10mg of Rapamune before and never got one till taking GF.
Same feeling with 10mg of Rapamune made me feel lethargic and out of energy for a couple of days.
Last thing, what about that MDs statement “The ones who takes Rapamycin with GF juice are damaging their livers or renal system” .
What do you guys think about it and are there any evidence that it indeed damages Kidneys and Liver?
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This could be potentially equivalent of 14mg of rapamycin if you consider @Agetron lab results.
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Exactly. I get a 6-7 increase on one fresh squeezed Red Grapefruit about 5 fluid ounces of juice when taken with rapamycin/Rapamune.
In two weeks … before I do my blood panel… I will take 2mg rapamycin/Rapamune with the juice of one fresh Red Grapefruit . My labcorp sirolimus results should be about 12 ng/mL .
The increase of the potential of rapamycin/Rapamune with GFJ is pretty high for me… not sure why. But… I am in great shape… no visceral fat… healtht gut, and veined out… all the time.
Sasa wrote: What do you guys think about it and are there any evidence that it indeed damages Kidneys and Liver?
The GFJ works in the gut… to my knowledge it has no affect on the kidneys or liver… except in the final dose if it is really high.
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Agetron, what is final dose and what do you define as “really high”?
Did you do any liver enzimes and kidney filtration rate after taking GF, any changes?
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Hello Sasa… for about 7 months (mid-April 2022 to mid-November 2022) my normal rapamycin high was 38.1 ng/mL That was taking 6mg rapamycin and 5 fluid ounces of Red Grapefruit juice.
In November 2022 … my last blood test…my kidneys eGFR was 70.2. Normal is above 60. So no kidney issues at those doses using GFJ.
Phosphatase was also normal… Liver function.
Acid phosphatase: An enzyme that acts to liberate phosphate under acidic conditions and is made in the liver, spleen, bone marrow, and prostate gland. Abnormally high serum levels of acid phosphatase may indicate infection, injury, or cancer of the prostate .
After this last blood panel… starting in December 2022…I changed to 2mg and GFJ. Will do a new blood panel in a few weeks. I do one about every 4- months.
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Thanks for sharing that data mate!
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With the amount of exercise you do it might be worth testing for Cystatin C. It may be that your eGFR comes out as higher.
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Hmmm… higher is even better… 
.
Will check it out…
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I think the risk here is that if you are taking another medication (in addition to rapamycin, such as some statins) you could easily overdose on those medications and cause kidney or liver damage. But - I recommend you do your research on this if you are concerned about it.
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Apart from the fact that creatinine metabolises in blood samples post draw it is also increased by greater muscle mass.
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I understand part about multiple medication usage.
But for someone that uses only Rapa, are there any evidence that GF + Rapa only does some damage to Kidney or Liver?
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Since I’ve not posted much, I thought I would finally share my experience with rapa. I am a 49 year old male and I’m in good health overall. I can run a 7 minute mile (2 miles), and eat a balanced diet. BMI is 21.9. I would say my biggest health issues are from stress and anxiety. Sleep is good most of the time, but when it’s not good the insomnia causes me anxiety.
Did my 4th weekly dose of 2mg Rapa with grapefruit yesterday morning. Some n=1 observations.
Week 1 - I took my first dose in the morning. I felt a little subtle shift and then a few hours later felt tired but not bad. Evening time came and and I didn’t feel tired. I went through my usual getting ready for bed routine and got in bed. Mild chest tightness on left side. Nothing painful by definitely not something I experienced at all since I got covid in September 2020 (I had chest tightness for about a month after that). Took 2 hours to fall asleep (normally takes 10 minutes). I chalked it up to anxiety around taking Rapa for the first time.
The next day I expected to be tired only having slept 5 hours, but I was not tired at all, no headache like I would usually have. I ended up doing a bunch of chainsaw, tree maintenance, and burning. That night took longer to fall asleep, but slept more. That week was interesting. Felt a bit more energetic and focused than usual.
Week 2 and 3 - not much to report, I can say that after these two doses I had no real side effects, I just slept less the night of and after the dosing, but didn’t seem worse for wear.
Week 4 - As usual 2mg of Rapa and a whole red grapefruit at the same time. Felt good all day, tons of energy, but by the evening I was tired. I had quite a lot of exercise, and rapa on dosing day can make me feel a bit zombie-like at the end of the day. Bedtime routine, stretching and breathing, reading a book in low light, but noticing some chest tightness, not pain, just like some dull numbness on my left side. I got up and moved around and didn’t notice it, but when I was on my back lying down in bed it kept coming back and it cause me some level of anxiety. I got up several times and sat and did some breathing, but each time I’d lie down that chest weirdness was back. I finally fell asleep. Woke up 5.5 hours later and was surprised that i had slept such a long stretch under the circumstances. The chest tightness still there, but it was time to get up, and so I did. I went for a walk with my old girl (12 year old Dobie) and still feeling it a bit. 2 mile run at a good pace and it seems less pronounced now.
My conclusion: 2mg of rapa with grapefruit once a week is not to be trifled with. Overall I felt a great energy boost, but with the downside of insomnia (and my anxiety around that) and some chest tightness. No other side effects at all. However, I do think I will do washout period of at least a couple of weeks and move to a dosage without grapefruit. Honestly, my experience last night kind of freaked me out knowing I had no idea about the levels of Rapa in my blood doing the grapefruit. If I had to stretch a dose I’d do 1mg with grapefruit, but not 2mg. 2mg with grapefruit once weekly was too much for me.
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Teadrinker wrote: The chest tightness still there, but it was time to get up, and so I did. I went for a walk with my old girl (12 year old Dobie) and still feeling it a bit. 2 mile run at a good pace and it seems less pronounced now.
I felt that tightness too on my early doses that first month that I started… kind of scared me… felt like my heart full… heavy… concerned me initially. Then reviewed that particularly the left ventricle repairs in dogs… consistently… rejuvenation and rebuilds. After that first month… stopped feeling that pressure.
My Coronary Calcium Scan this summer showed zero calcium and clear lungs… my heart is that of a person younger than 35 years…I am 65 years. I truly believe rapamycin was working inside my heart… like with the dog studies … woof!
Link: StudyPages - Assessing an Oral Drug to Reverse Subvalvular Aortic Stenosis (SAS) in Dogs
The future is looking brighter for animal patients suffering from heart disease. The Foundation is funding several cutting-edge studies using the latest technological tools, new drugs, and innovative strategies to tackle heart disease.
- One study at the University of California, Davis, is looking at rapamycin’s ability to reverse remodeling in dogs with severe SAS. Rapamycin inhibits one of the key regulators of cell growth and nutrient response, and there is evidence it prevents remodeling secondary to laboratory-induced cardiac pressure overload. Rapamycin has been safely used experimentally in dogs as a chemotherapeutic agent, and in studies of aging. Given the extremely poor prognosis for dogs with severe SAS, this study, if successful, could have a significant impact on canine patients diagnosed with this terrible disease, and their veterinarians.
Heart is strong…veins are wide opened… can feel and hear my heartbeat in my head, chest, arms all the time.
My Coronary Calcium Scan from this summer after almost 2 years on rapamycin.
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Thanks for sharing!
The thought certainly occurred to me that there is a healing process going on. It’s interesting that for a month after I got the OG covid variant I had chest tightness in the same place too.
I will still do a wash out period and re-start. Like I said, overall I feel great. I do feel the grapefruit must really supercharge the rapa dose though. I would encourage others to be cautious and start slow/low.
I should do the calcium scoring test. I am thrilled for you! It seems like rapa is really a big factor in your health successes.
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Yes, initially I was taking 6 mg rapamycin/sirolimus weekly with water for my first year and a half… no Grapefruit juice! Only started experimenting with GFJ after. Was on 6mg rapamycin with grapefruit juice 3 months prior to my Coronary Calcium Scan and during it… was hitting 38 ng/mL blood doses.
Past 4 months I have reduced to 2mg Rapamune and grapefruit juice. Should be hitting 12 ng/mL. Will confirm in a few weeks on my next blood check and sirolimus Labcorp blood test.
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Thanks for a summary of your dosage history. For the first year and a half did you pause Rapa at all or just once weekly without pause?
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Going on 2 years 8 months never have taken a pause…
Doctor Peter Atia. On a podcast stated he use to pause… then just sropoed. Uses it constantly
. No pause.
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